Hollowed Martyr - Naruto X RWBY

Eyes of God

It had been almost a week since the Akatsuki's first mission and the subsequent dance, and Madara was still feeling the effects of it all. He felt...lighter, as if one of the weights in the mountain that constantly forced him to his knees had been lifted. He had stopped sending wood clones to go to class, and instead attended them all himself. Instead, he simply had his wood clones manage his Akatsuki business, primarily on the matter of their newest member.

Amber had been reluctant to accept Adam into the organization, and the red haired faunus had shared a similar hesitation to really work with a human. But Madara was both persistent and a genius, so he was able to get them to cooperate. The shinobi had them put aside their differences in a spar against him, which had forced them work together if they wanted to stand even a ghost of a chance.

They still hadn't.

But that combined with some apologies and explanations, had caused Amber to accept Adam into their group with open arms. They still argued at times, but it was much more playful than before. Madara had also christened Adam with his own ring and codename, dubbing him "Equity".

Ruby still didn't know about Adam, but Madara sought to reconcile that today. He was waiting for her in the courtyard of the school, ready to take her first to their hideout and then deep in the forest. He needed a secluded place to train her silver eyes, after all.

Speaking of Ruby, his relationship with her was...complicated. It was the reason for his less weighted soul and clearer eyes, but it still left him with some sort of void. He no longer rejected her advances to include him in group activities, and he could often be found with her in different areas around the school. They would even venture out to Vale every so often, where the crimsonette would take him on a daily adventure.

Madara was also grateful that she hadn't brought up the Uchiha clan yet, seemingly noting that it was a sore subject for him. He knew that she would mention it soon, but he still wasn't sure where to take that conversation yet. He still didn't know why he had shared that bit of information with the girl.

She had even pulled him along to hang out with the others as well, and although her team hadn't been trusting at first, they now at least seemed to tolerate his presence. And to be honest, he could say the same. He and Blake both shared a sarcastic wit and pessimistic world view. Both he and Weiss came from prestigious families and were gifted with great intelligence and pride. And both he and Yang...well, he had laughed at one of her puns.

They reminded him of Hashirama.

It was a strange feeling to the shinobi, one that he had thought he would never feel again. He felt a kindling of camaraderie with each of them, and had made a friend in Ruby. He would have never thought he would meet such people in this world.

He had even grown quite fond of them.

Madara shook those thoughts away as he felt Ruby approaching with his Sage Mode. His eyes snapped open from, darting towards Ruby who was running excitedly towards him. The smile on her face was infectious, causing a small grin of his own to appear.

"Madara!!" Ruby shouted as she raced towards him, almost crashing right into him in a flurry of rose petals. Her sparkling silver eyes looked up at him as she hung onto his waist. The ghost of the Uchiha rolled his eyes, but tentatively returned the hug. He still wasn't very good at that, after all.

"Ruby, we just saw each other an hour ago."

"I know, it's been sooooo long!"

Madara shook his head fondly as he let go of the younger girl, before looking around to make sure no one was watching. Even if he had begun to tolerate these people, that didn't mean he wanted them knowing too much about him and his plans. Once he confirmed that the coast was clear, he turned around and grabbed Ruby's hand with his gloved one.